Conventional DAT or VCR type front loaders comprise a pair of brackets mounted vertically and in parallel with each other on the main base, a cassette holder, and a horizontal carrier movable along the brackets to load or unload the cassette. Korean utility model application No. 89-2327 (filed in the name of same applicant on Feb. 28, 1989 and referred in FIGS. 6 to 9) discloses a tape cassette ejector having a pair of brackets 11 secured on both end portions of the main base in parallel with each other, a horizontal carrier 12 movable on the brackets, an ejecting lever 13, a torsion spring 14 supporting the lever 13, a locking lever 15, and a top cover 16. The carrier 12 is mounted, by means of a pin, to a guide hole 11a formed in the brackets 11, and moves horizontally.
At a pin 15a secured to a hole 12a of the carrier 12, the lever 15 is mounted rotatably by means of a shaft hole 15d thereof. Also, the ejecting lever 13 is mounted by its shaft hole 13b on a pin 13a secured into a securing hole 12b, and a pin 15c secured downwardly at an end portion of the lever 15 is inserted into a cam slot 13c formed on the other end portion of the lever 13. Also a pin 15b is secured on the other end portion of the locking lever 15, and an ejecting roller 13d is mounted near the cam slot 13c of the ejecting lever 13.
An end portion of a torsion spring 14 inserted on the shaft pin 13a of the ejecting lever 13 contacts an end portion of the lever 13, and the other portion of the spring 14 contacts an end portion of a top cover 16 secured on the brackets 11 and positioned above the carrier 12. Accordingly, the ejecting lever 13 is supported elastically, and can rotate anti-clockwise around the pin 13a (see FIGS. 8 and 9). A pair of stoppers 16a, 16b extend downwardly from the top cover 16 to contact with the pin 15b for limiting the rotation range of the pin 15b in a given stroke.
In an initial position of the above-mentioned ejector in which the tape cassette 17 is inserted into the cassette holder, the pin 15c of the locking lever 15 is located at the position "a" of the cam slot 13c (see FIGS. 8A and 9), and the lever 13 rotates anti-clockwise (direction "A" in FIG. 9) by means of the torsion spring 14. Accordingly, when the user inserts the cassette 17, the cassette 17 pushes the ejecting roller 13d to rotate the lever 13 in the direction "A", thereafter, a drive motor (not shown) is driven to move the carrier 12 in the loading direction (direction "X"). Therefore, the pin 15b of the locking lever 15 contacts the stopper 16a to shift the pin 15c from position "a" to positions "b" and "c" shown in FIG. 9, and the lever 13 is locked by the locking lever 15.
On the other hand, in unloading, the carrier 12 moves in the unloading direction, and the pin 15b of the locking lever 15 contacts the stopper 16b to rotate said lever 15 clockwise, thereafter, the pin 15c shifts along the positions c.fwdarw.b.fwdarw.a of the slot 13c in regular sequence, and when the pin 15c is located at the last position (position "a"), the state of locking is unlocked, and the ejecting lever 13 moves in the direction "A" to eject the cassette 17.
However, in the initial position of loading the cassette, when the user removes the pushing force, the cassette 17 is ejected out of the holder 10 by the elastic power of the torsion spring 14 acting on the lever 13. In consequence, to prepare a stable loading action, the user has to push the cassette 17 until the pin 15b of the locking lever 15 contacts with the stopper 16a.